Google Doodle celebrates St Patrick's Day with a trip to mystical Skellig Michael

Google celebrates St Patrick's Day 2017 by taking its readers to the mystical Skellig Michael, a remote island just off the coast of County Kerry in Ireland.

The animation, in green of course, shows two clovers sharing a high five on top of the island. The World Heritage Site is home to many species of seabirds, including puffins, gannets and razorbills.

Google say: "If you're brave enough to scale the 600 steps to the top of the rocky precipice, you'll see a magnificent view of the mainland and the Atlantic Ocean from 714 feet above sea level.

"The Skelligs are part of the Kerry Gaeltacht, where locals speak Irish, and you may hear 'Cead mile failte' or 'a hundred thousand welcomes,' if you visit," it adds.

Skellig Michael is the larger of the two Skellig islands.

Where is St Patrick's Day celebrated?

St Patrick's Day, which falls on 17 March, honours the patron saint of Ireland but is celebrated around the world.

In fact, since 1961 St Patrick is also regarded as the patron saint of Nigeria, which has around 20 million Catholics. It is not, however, celebrated as a national holiday there as it is in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

It is also a national holiday on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean. In the Canadian province of Newfoundland, St Patrick's Day is a provincial holiday.

So who is St Patrick?

Born Maewyn Succat in Roman Britain around 385 AD, he changed his name to Patrick when he became a bishop. Whether he is actually Irish is not really known. The Telegraph claims St Patrick was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland, where he was made to work as a herdsman.

However, he managed to escape after six years and it is assumed that he returned to Britain, where he became a Christian priest.

St Patrick then returned to Ireland as a missionary in the fifth century where he spent the next three decades setting up schools, churches and monasteries. He took over as the bishop of Ireland, replacing St Palladius. He is believed to have died on 17 March in 461 AD.

But did you know that St Patrick's is not the only patron saint of Ireland? It also boasts two others - St Bridget is remembered on 1 February and St Columba on 9 June.